400 inspirational quotes to enlighten your life
Inspirational quotes about storytelling from writers
These quotes evoke the beauty of storytelling, the impact of literature, and the profound influence that words have in shaping your thoughts, inspiring change, and leaving an enduring legacy.
"One day I will find the right words, and they will be simple." - Jack Kerouac
- “It ain’t whatcha write, it’s the way atcha write it.” - Jack Kerouac
- “Not a wasted word. This has been a main point to my literary thinking all my life.” - Hunter S. Thompson
- “When I sit down to write a book, I do not say to myself, ‘I am going to produce a work of art.’ I write it because there is some lie that I want to expose, some fact to which I want to draw attention, and my initial concern is to get a hearing.” - George Orwell
- “If a nation loses its storytellers, it loses its childhood.” - Peter Handke
- “To defend what you’ve written is a sign that you are alive.” - William Zinsser
- “If I had not existed, someone else would have written me, Hemingway, Dostoyevsky, all of us.” - William Faulkner
- “For your born writer, nothing is so healing as the realization that he has come upon the right word.” -Catherine Drinker Bowen
- “Each writer is born with a repertory company in his head. Shakespeare has perhaps 20 players. … I have 10 or so, and that’s a lot. As you get older, you become more skillful at casting them.” - Gore Vidal
- “We’re past the age of heroes and hero kings. … Most of our lives are basically mundane and dull, and it’s up to the writer to find ways to make them interesting.” - John Updike
- “I’m out there to clean the plate. Once they’ve read what I’ve written on a subject, I want them to think, ‘That’s it!’ I think the highest aspiration people in our trade can have is that once they’ve written a story, nobody will ever try it again.” - Richard Ben Cramer
- “There are no laws for the novel. There never have been, nor can there ever be.” - Doris Lessing
- “Plot is people. Human emotions and desires founded on the realities of life, working at cross purposes, getting hotter and fiercer as they strike against each other until finally there’s an explosion—that’s Plot.” - Leigh Brackett
- “The first sentence can’t be written until the final sentence is written.” - Joyce Carol Oates
- “When your story is ready for rewrite, cut it to the bone. Get rid of every ounce of excess fat. This is going to hurt; revising a story down to the bare essentials is always a little like murdering children, but it must be done.” - Stephen King
- “Just write every day of your life. Read intensely. Then see what happens. Most of my friends who are put on that diet have very pleasant careers.” - Ray Bradbury
- “Let the world burn through you. Throw the prism light, white hot, on paper.” - Ray Bradbury
- “Remember: Plot is no more than footprints left in the snow after your characters have run by on their way to incredible destinations.” - Ray Bradbury
- “The most beautiful things are those that madness prompts and reason writes." - Andre Gide
- “Literature is strewn with the wreckage of men who have minded beyond reason the opinions of others.” - Virginia Woolf
- “If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.” - Elmore Leonard
- “I almost always urge people to write in the first person. … Writing is an act of ego and you might as well admit it.” - William Zinsser
- “When writing a novel, a writer should create living people; people, not characters. A character is a caricature.” - Ernest Hemingway
- “Write while the heat is in you. … The writer who postpones the recording of his thoughts uses an iron which has cooled to burn a hole with.” - Henry David Thoreau
- “You don’t actually have to write anything until you’ve thought it out. This is an enormous relief, and you can sit there searching for the point at which the story becomes a toboggan and starts to slide.” - Marie de Nervaud
- “Remarkable visions and genuine insights are always met with resistance. And when you start to make progress, your efforts are met with even more resistance.” – Seth Godin
- “A great story is true. Not necessarily because it’s factual, but because it’s consistent and authentic.” – Seth Godin
- “Fiction is an ancient virtual reality technology that specializes in simulating human problems.” - Jonathan Gottschall
- “Story = Character + Predicament + Attempted Extrication” - Jonathan Gottschall
- “Story—sacred and profane—is perhaps the main cohering force in human life.” - Jonathan Gottschall
- “If I could leave my audience with only one single key takeaway message, what would it be? If my audience was to forget everything else I said, what one single idea or lesson would I want them to remember?” – Akash Karia
- “Dialogue is more powerful than narration. It puts audience members into the scene, allowing them to hear exactly what was said.” Akash Karia
- “We all will experience pain, struggle, and trauma; suffering is a choice to cling and remain attached to the story.” - Michael Margolis
- “Your greatest achievement will always be your life’s story.” – Michael Margolis
- “If you’re not telling your story, somebody is telling it for you.” – Michael Margolis
- “If you want to learn about a culture, listen to the stories. If you want to change a culture, change the stories.” – Michael Margolis
- “Leaders lead by telling stories that give others permission to lead, not follow.” – Michael Margolis
- “If you find yourself asking yourself (and your friends), “Am I really a writer? Am I really an artist?” chances are you are. The counterfeit innovator is wildly self-confident. The real one is scared to death.” – Steven Pressfield
- “The engineers of the future will be poets.” – Terence McKenna
- “The human species thinks in metaphors and learns through stories.” – Mary Catherine Bateson
Words are Eye-Openers
Words have the power to open your eyes to new perspectives, ignite your passions, and inspire you to make meaningful changes.
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If you were seeking enlightenment and motivation, explore this collection of inspirational quotes that touch upon various aspects of life. This includes hard work and success, creativity, leadership, and more.
Let these words be your guide as you embark on a transformative journey of personal growth and self-discovery.
Originally published at Crossmap
